Here are some of the highlights of 2013. We’ve done a lot this year and we are looking forward to an even more successful 2014.
- Hosted 2013 Freedom Fund with over 900 participants.
- Received $201,283.55 in pledges for Freedom Fund Dinner.
- Held two community forums to address shooting in East Cleveland.
- Attended Regional Training for new members in Columbus.
- Met with County Prosecutor regarding special grand jury for East Cleveland shooting.
- Recruited 287 new memberships.
- Increased media and community presence with speaking events, panel discussions, radio and television interviews.
- Established regular reporting from committee members.
- Hosted a criminal justice forum where residents gave public testimony to assist the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into police excessive force complaints. – 139 people attended.
- Hosted Housing Forum with Cleveland Housing Court where Court gave overview of abandoned homes in our communities.
- Held two mental health awareness forums. Partnered with University Hospital to host second mental health forum to raise awareness on mental health issues and resources in our community.
- Education committee held public forums; had state officials come to speak about budgets; advocacy work regarding funding; advocacy work regarding charter schools; contributed significantly to newsletter.
- Hosted Membership forum to increase membership and kick off end of the year membership drive.
- Partnered with NAN, SCLC for black history event.
- Participated in Labor Day Parade
- Participated in Warrensville Parade
- Participated in Delta Sigma Theta Parade
- Participated and served as judges in local ACT-SO competition.
- Attended national conference in Florida – Won medal ACT-SO competition.
- Generated Petitions for Justice Department to file civil rights charges against Zimmerman (Trayvon Martin)
- Participated in national training for NAACP agenda to restore voting rights act.
- Attended State Conference in Chillicothe and sent delegates.
- NAACP charted 2 buses to March on Washington Commemoration in DC.
- Partnered with SCLC/Urban League to conduct March on Washington event here in Cleveland – entered MOU for membership – generated 32 memberships
- Generated online petitions calling for removal of Akron teacher for racist statements.
- Generated statements/press releases for racists acts at Oberlin college/violence against women
- Economic Development Committee – workshop on strategic planning session; financial literacy education workshops; addressed minority spin with Metro Health; minority business council; worked with Labor committee; looking at apprentice programs; received 15K from Dr. Pickard; establishing criteria for committee funding for small business and additional funding. – Recruited young professionals and entrepreneurs to the organization.
- Examining EEO1 data to examine hiring practices of employers in the region.
- Generated 467 signatures for petitions against HB 203, an expansion of Ohio’s Stand Your Ground Laws and we traveled to Columbus to tell state legislators not to support this effort.
- Held membership drives and partnered with the union to host a voting rights forum – 93 people attended.
- Working with Marcia Fudge to restore section IV of the Voting Rights Act.
- Partnered with AFL-CIO, City of Cleveland and Board of Elections for GOTV drive for 2013 elections.
- Hosted Health Care Forum to educate people and helping them enroll in affordable health care. – Enrolled citizens into the Affordable care act.
- Leveraging our social media and email network to connect local employers with talent.
- We use our social media and email network to connect the community with programmatic, scholarship and training opportunities. – Established virtual community HUB for jobs and training opportunities.
- Partnered with Case Western Reserve Law School to have law students triage discrimination complaints – We have a new law student doing an externship and MSASS students from Case starting in February.
- Created a new reporting form and established a more streamlined process for faster turnarounds on our complaint responses. Addressed two years of outstanding complaints.
- Partnered with Global Cleveland to reach out to those in our community who have moved away and encourage them to come back home and to attract more African Americans back to Cleveland
- Partnered with Cuyahoga County to provide self-defense training to keep our community safe.
- Galvanized support and raised awareness for big box organizations like the Rape Crisis Center and the Domestic Violence Center that work to reduce violence against women in our neighborhoods.
- Partnered with Neighborhood Leadership Institute by facilitating ten classes to implement a civic engagement program with high school students.
- Raised awareness for the annual food stamp challenge with Cleveland Catholic Charities and the Cleveland Jewish Federation to raise awareness about cuts to the federal SNAP program.
- Supported CWRU students to establish an NAACP chapter at Case Western Reserve University with 53 new members.
